Rogue
Rogues are World of Warcraft's premiere melee damage dealer. They have access to a wide range of special abilities, which depend on their constantly refilling pool of energy. Unlike other classes, such as the Hunter who has the ability to deal physical damage from a distance, Rogues must be in close. This often subjects them to tank-like damage reception due to their dangerous threat level if left alone. The primary Rogue class distinguisher is their ability to stealth, preventing other players from seeing them unless the Rogue is very close and in a 180 degree arc in front of them. The primary Rogue attribute is agility. For PvP Rogues, stamina is needed for staying power. For a rogue, agility is always preferable to strength. A rogue uses no mana, so intelligence and spirit are nearly useless. Spirit also contributes to health restoration, but even with spirit, you won't want to rely on just normal healing. Whichever method you use, food, bandages, potions, or a healer makes having a lot of spirit unnecessary. At later levels, most Rogue-oriented gear will also include a lot of Attack Power. Other gear bonuses sought by rogues are Crit, Hit, Dodge, Haste, and Resilience. High Crit gives bursty damage, high Dodge can make the rogue unhittable, high Hit increases chance to hit, mitigating dual wield penalty and enhancing dps, high Haste enhances an already high dps, and Resilience gives the rogue more ability to survive. Rogues can only wear leather or cloth armor, are unable to use shields, and can only wield one-handed weapons (daggers, swords, maces, and fist weapons) and ranged weapons. At level 10, they can train dual wield, letting them equip two one-handed weapons. At level 20, they gain access to Poisons through a quest. Rogues are best suited for players who like to sneak up on enemies and dish out large amounts of burst damage. In Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, it is a rank you can achieve. Background Rogues are Azeroth’s legerdemains. They possess a wide range of skills that allow them to accomplish feats from disarming traps to finding secret doors to smacking a magic item until it works. They are decent in a fight, and if they can strike quickly or unseen — or are flanking an enemy with the help of a thoughtful ally — they can be truly deadly. Of course, they also excel at stealth. The rogues of Azeroth are the masters of subterfuge, skilled and cunning adversaries of those who dare not look into the shadows to see what lurks there. Roguery is a profession for those who seek the adventures of stalking and silent forests, dimly lit halls and heavily guarded strongholds. Using trickery in combat and able to vanish at the slightest distraction, the rogue is a welcome addition to any group of adventurers. Ideal spies, deadly to those they can catch unaware, rogues have no problem finding a place in the world. Deadly masters of stealth, rogues are the whispers in shadowy corners and the hooded figures crossing dark fields. Skilled with daggers and the art of silent death, these vagabonds and bandits skulk about Azeroth seeking targets and profit. A member of almost any race can learn the tricks necessary to become a skilled rogue. Still, for the tauren and draenei, such a profession is an alien concept and therefore rare (if not non-existent) among those peoples. Rogues can be found among all races on Azeroth. Whether they are diplomats, spies, thieves, scoundrels, entertainers, or simply adventurers, you can find them plying just about any trade from Mount Hyjal to Ratchet. For as long as there were dark alleys and needs for dark services, there have been rogues, and thus they are one of the oldest professions in Azeroth. Rogues are a diverse class, and they are typically made up from the dredges of society — cutthroats, pirates, robbers, and low-lifes. The only code rogues live by is the contract, and their word is only as good as the money their services are bought for. The diverse aspects of their trade requires rogues to be well versed in lockpicking, toxicology, rudimentary alchemy and brawling. In combat, rogues rely on the element of surprise, and tactics which are regarded by most as vile and cowardly. They are rarely seen entering a fight without weapons laced in poisons and ample supplies of blinding powder. Their attacks concentrate on weak points in the body in an attempt to finish fights brutally and quickly. Rogues play prominent roles in every aspect of society — albeit, they will rarely be written in history books because their involvements will be largely unknown to the common person, but they are always there, greatly affecting the flow of events from the shadows. From the high-contract assassin hired in secret by respected noblemen to the lowly street mugger, rogues are the ones called upon when maintaining the status quo requires a questionable solution — and by fulfilling it, are branded as outcasts by the very society that calls upon their service. In Azeroth several rogues are free agents, though most prefer to join a guild for safety and ease of employment. Ravenholdt and the Syndicate are examples of said guilds. Other recognized rogue organizations include the Shattered Hand, the Deathstalkers and SI:7. Notable Rogues in the Lore * - Garona Halforcen * - Valeera Sanguinar * - Edwin VanCleef Races The rogue class can be played by the following races: Alliance * Dwarves * Gnomes * Humans * Night Elves Horde * Orcs * Undead * Trolls * Blood Elves All races, except the daenei and the tauren, can play a rogue with equal efficiency, but like any class in World of Warcraft, one should take a deeper look into the racial traits and how they affect the gameplay of a rogue. Starting Attributes Tauren and draenei race are the only races that do not have rogues because they believe that the methods of the rogues are "dishonorable," and it is difficult to be stealthy when you have hooves. However in the game files, both Draeni and Tauren both have stealthing animations, and as such, Eredar and Broken have such motions. Weapons Although rogues excel at melee combat, they may only learn to use four types of melee weapons: daggers, fist weapons, one-handed maces and one-handed swords. For ranged weapons, rogues may learn to use bows, crossbows, guns and throwing weapons. As with warriors, a rogue's choice of weapon typically affects distribution of talent points, and vice versa. For example: since rogues may specialize in any of the four melee weapons available to them, a rogue who primarily or exclusively uses daggers/fist weapons is likely to spend talent points in Close Quarters Combat. Similarly, a rogue who relies on one-handed maces or swords will probably not spend points on Improved Ambush, since the Ambush ability requires use of a dagger in the rogue's main hand. A rogue's most fundamental abilities, such as Sinister Strike, Mutilate and Backstab, are instant attacks which inflict damage based on the weapon damage of the rogue's main-hand weapon. Rogues therefore find it desirable to use a weapon with the best average damage to maximize their DPS. Weapon speed does not affect the damage bonus provided by a rogue's attack power. Instead, damage is calculated according to the following formula: : Normalized Damage = Base Weapon Damage + (Base Multiplier × Attack Power ÷ 14) The "base multiplier" depends on weapon type: 1.7 for daggers, and 2.4 for fist weapons, swords and maces. Although weapon speed for normalized attacks does not contribute to the bonus damage from attack power, if you have 2 weapons of equal DPS, the slower weapon will have a higher base damage (average damage) and thus cause more damage overall. The exception to this rule involves Riposte and Ghostly Strike. Neither ability is normalized, meaning that slow weapons with high damage ranges will inflict greater overall damage than fast weapons with low damage ranges. Weapons held in the off hand have only two instant attacks: Shiv and the off-hand component of Mutilate. Otherwise their damage contribution is reasonably straightforward. Off-hand attacks suffer a standard damage penalty. Fast off-hand weapons increase the application rate of poisons, since they will hit more frequently than a slow weapon and therefore increase the chances of applying poison to a target. Most players choose to use the same type of off-hand as the main hand in order to benefit from weapon specialization (if they are combat specced), but some prefer to use the fastest weapon available in order to quickly apply poisons and interrupt spellcasters. Faster weapons are also sometimes favored for by those rogues who rely heavily on Combat Potency, since that talent affords the opportunity to regain up to 15 energy on a successful off-hand hit. Notable weapons '' See Rogue equipment'' Abilities This section provides a brief overview of the abilities of the rogue. For more a detailed assessment of rogue abilities, see the "Rogue abilities" article. Stealth Stealth is the first major class ability a rogue can get. Rogues have the ability to stealth and become essentially invisible to their level and lower, while moving at slower speed. Stealthed rogues are detectable at close range, though will remain stealthed and appear translucent. Be aware that higher level characters and mobs can more easily see through your stealth, and it does not take many levels to make your stealth worthless. Many rogue abilities require stealth, and others require being behind the target, which is often achievable (while solo) only in stealth. Other rogue abilities, notably Sprint and Distract, interact well with stealth, although some actions, like lockpicking, will break stealth. Stealth opens up a range of tactics and roles for rogues. Groups often rely on a rogue's stealth ability to scout dungeons, and to use Sap for added crowd control. In PvP, stealth combined with burst damage gives an element of surprise that can be especially effective against cloth-wearers. Stealth can be improved through talents, items, and enchantments, both to decrease the chance of being detected, and to increase movement speed. Dual Wield A rogue can learn to dual wield at level 10. Dual wielding is a trade-off with an increased chance to miss with each weapon and reduced damage on the off-hand, but it is a good ability for a rogue. A rogue cannot use a two-handed weapon (which have bigger stat buffs), cannot carry a shield, and has few good offhand choices (offhand items tend to all have caster stats). A second wielded weapon is the only way to reliably get two hands worth of rogue stat buffs. Roughly, with no tweaking, dual wield grants .81 + (.5 x .81) = 1.215 damage. The first tier rogue talent, Dual Wield Specialization removes the off-hand damage penalty in increments of 10%. With Dual Wield Specialization maxed, dual wield grants 2 x .81 = 1.62 damage. Real results, with a weapon chosen for good benefits, will be better. Bottom line is, in spite of the to-hit penalty, as a rogue you will want to dual wield. Poisons The Alliance's poison quest can be obtained at level 20 in Westfall from Agent Kearnen called ; if you drop by S1:7 in Stormwind, Master Mathias will send you to Kearnen when the time is right by giving you the quest. The Horde's version is in Orgrimmar from Shenthul called ; which sends you to The Barrens to talk to Taskmaster Fizzule for a quest called . The poisons skills allows the Rogue to use poisons, which can then be applied to their weapons. Poisons generally either cause damage to the target (either instantly or as damage over time) or cause other effects (slowing the target, removing the effectiveness of healing on the target, etc.). The ability to use each type of poison and level of the type of poison is a separate rogue skill. Different weapons can have different poisons applied, and faster weapons cause the poison to proc more often. Poisons are a temporary weapon buff, and as such do not stack with other enhancements such as sharpening stones or buffs from shaman totems. All poisons have a timer, which formerly lasted 30 minutes but as of patch 2.3 was raised to 60 minutes. As of patch 2.1.0 a Rogue's poisons no longer have multiple charges; each now has one charge and stacks up to 20 units. The poison timer is displayed on the weapons properties when you mouse over the weapon. As of patch 1.10 applying poison will not break stealth or shadowmeld; previously to this, applying poisons would break these states. As of Patch 2.0.1, poisons remain on weapons through zoning between continents or into instances. A variety of talents in the Assassination skill tree enhance the use of poisons. Wearing three or more pieces of the Bloodfang Armor set increases the chance to apply poisons by 5%. Prior to the 3.0.2 patch and Wrath of the Lich King, the Poisons skill, the ability to brew poisons from ingredients, was a secondary skill, similar to Cooking or First Aid, but available only to Rogues. As of the 3.0.2 patch and Wrath of the Lich King, the Poisons skill is no longer available in the game. Poisons may still be used by rogues, but are no longer brewed. Poisons can now be purchased from any Poison Vendor or Shady Dealer. Different ranks of Mind-numbing Poison have also been removed as of this patch. Lockpicking Rogues have the ability to obtain the important skill Lockpicking. This ability allows them to open locked chests, lockboxes, and doors, depending on the Rogue's skill in lockpicking and the level of the locked object (note that blacksmiths can create keys to open locked chests and engineers can manufacture explosive charges that can open locked doors, in the case that a skilled Rogue is unavailable.) Lockboxes can be pickpocketed from mobs or found as loot and are essential to Rogues trying to level their lockpicking skill -- their color (grey - red) represents the skill necessary to open them (red means the Rogue's lockpicking skill is too low to open the object and must increase his/her skill level before attempting again.) Your lockpicking increases at the same rate as weapon skills (5 * Level) to a maximum skill of 400 at level 80. Early training in lockpicking for Alliance rogues can be obtained at level 16 by completing the Alther's Mill quest, obtained from Lucius, who skulks around the docks of Lakeshore in the Redridge Mountains; Keryn Silvius in the Goldshire Inn will send you to see Renzik at SI:7 in Stormwind who will send you to see Lucius (however, you can probably go direct to Lucius...) Some high-level dungeons (like the Arcatraz in Tempest Keep or the Shattered Halls in Hellfire Citadel) can be opened by a Rogue with a skill level of 350 in lockpicking. This can be a real time-saver for a group since the alternative to picking the locks to these dungeons is to complete several long quest chains resulting in a key reward. Stuns, Incapacitates and/or Disorients * Cheap Shot Stuns a target for 4 seconds and awards 2 combo points for use on a finishing move. This is a very useful opener that requires stealth and usually allows the Rogue to get 1 or 2 instant attacks off in addition to auto-attacks before an opponent can recover. * Kidney Shot Kidney shot is an excellent finishing move which stuns for up to 6 seconds depending on skill rank and number of combo points. It can keep a PvP opponent stunned long enough for you to kill them (especially if you master stun-locking). But in PvE it's also a great ability to help keep your group mates alive or to interrupt a spell being cast. * Gouge Gouge is not a stun, but is a very important skill that incapacitates your target. This is used frequently to stall an opponent allowing you time to regenerate energy and get behind your opponent to allow a backstab. Since it is considered an incapacitating effect, any damage caused afterwards breaks the gouge. This ability turns off auto-attack when used. Also, speccing in Improved Gouge will add .5 seconds per point up to a maximum of 1.5 seconds to your gouge. This adds just enough time for you to gouge someone and get out of combat to restealth. * Blind Disorients an opponent for 10 seconds, making them unable to act. More than enough time to bandage and restealth in pvp. Any damage will remove the blind effect. * Sap. Sap is one of the most underused rogue abilities. This move must be performed while stealthed and your opponent cannot be in combat. However sapping will allow you 10 seconds of freedom. Feel free to use this to bandage AND return back to stealth. Please note that sap and gouge do share the same diminishing return timer. Diminishing returns Please note that diminishing returns apply to all effects that cause players to lose control of their character (stun, incapacitate, fear, etc.). Stuns are split into 2 categories, controlled (always occurs) and uncontrolled (random proc). Cheap Shot is an example of a controlled stun and other stuns of this class, such as a Warrior's Charge and Intercept or Paladin's Hammer of Justice, will diminish each other's stun duration on a target. Old mace specialization (no longer a stun as of Patch 3.0.2) is an example of an uncontrolled stun and other stuns of this class, such as a Mage's Impact or a Priest's Blackout, will diminish each other's stun duration on a target. Gouge is not a stun, but is in a class of its own, called incapacitate, which also includes a Paladin's Repentance, Goblin Rocket Helm, and Horned Viking Helmet. Passive Threat Reduction All rogues generate reduced threat, compared to most classes. While attacks from most classes generate 1.0x threat per damage, Rogues generate 0.71x threat per damage. Prior to 1.12, the rogues' threat reduction was 0.8x, but was additive with other threat modifiers. The reduction was increased because threat modifiers are now multiplicative. Ignore armor Unlike a caster's magic attacks, a rogue's melee attacks are reduced by the target's armor. The rogue has a few tricks to mitigate the armor. Poisons, mentioned above, bypass armor. Expose Armor is a finishing move that reduces the target's Armor Rating for a short period. The Improved Expose Armor talent increases the effectiveness of Expose Armor. As of Patch 3.0.2, placing talent points in Mace Specialization under the combat tree causes your mace attacks to ignore 3% of your target's armor per point invested (3%/6%/9%/12%/15%). Flee Rogues are adept at running away. Sprint allows a rogue a temporary running speed boost. Vanish allows a rogue to disappear from combat and enter stealth mode. Talents Rogue Talents are split into 3 categories: * Assassination * Combat * Subtlety Some builds to consider are : Mutilate with DW specialization Mutilate with some subtlety Combat Swords Combat Daggers Cold Blood/Prep/Seal Fate (AKA CB/Prep) ShadowStep with Assassination These are just general outlines. Please see the Rogue builds section for a little more in depth explanation. Talent builders can be found at Official Blizzard site, ThottBot, and Wowhead. See the Rogue talents page for further details. Suggested Professions Leatherworking and Skinning Leatherworking and Skinning are always a good choice. The items crafted tend to be better than other items you can loot at the same level. This is a very balanced profession choice for performance and money. Blacksmithing and Mining Another alternative is Blacksmithing and Mining. While not the most beneficial profession choice for a rogue, you will have the ability to craft some weapons throughout your grinding. *At level 40 and a skill of 200 you can choose weapon-smithing. *If you chose weapon-smithing, then at 50 with a skill of 250 you can choose sword-smithing or mace-smithing. **Sword-smithing allows access to which will eventually turn into . **Mace-smithing allows access to which can be turned into . Herbalism and Alchemy Herbalism and Alchemy are a pretty viable option. The Alchemy profession allows the Rogue to manufacture powerful potions, elixirs, and flasks. Healing potions are the first things that come to mind, but other beneficial consumables include , , and . *Alchemy also opens up the ability to craft an , which adds a decent amount of attack power in addition to the 40% bonus to healing potions. *Note that this profession is not only beneficial to the rogue in performance, it can be an excellent money maker. *Herbalism is also a very good way to obtain Swiftthistle, which is needed to make Thistle Tea. *Mixology became available with Patch 3.0.2 which doubled the duration of Elixirs and Flasks for the Alchemist who learns the skill. This is beneficial in a raid. Engineering and Mining Engineering is arguably the best (and most fun) profession for a rogue (with Mining being the most beneficial complementary profession). It allows for a very distinct edge in combat. It can, however, be expensive, for while you usually only have to craft items once in engineering, the items tend to be a bit expensive at times. There are a few engineering items that require components crafted by other professions, from blacksmiths to tailors to alchemists. Some very notable items would be: * & - Can allow for an easy long range silence or just to stop someone from fleeing. * - Great for keeping a group from having to rez. Vanish from a losing fight and then rez the rezzer. * - Knock-down power at the cost of some of your own health. * and its lesser version, , are great for raiders. Sometimes a place to repair isn't close. In those cases, drop one of these and have the raid restock on reagents and repair gear. * - To ease sheaking from above and save your life once in a while. * - These give you a very distinct advantage against other rogues. * , , and eventually provide 50%, 70% and 300% run speed increase (respectively). * - One of the best headpieces in the game for a rogue. Not to be underestimated. Enchanting Enchanting is a very profitable profession if you know how to use it. As a rogue it's possible to solo run some lower level dungeons and head straight for the boss of each then disenchant their loot. At level 70 Scholomance, Blackrock Depths, UBRS, Dire maul and even Stratholme are very doable and most certainly profitable. The ring enchants also provide an irreplaceable buff to your personal stats. Inscription Inscription is a new profession introduced with the 3.0.2 Patch. This profession is easy to learn, quick to level, and can be very profitable. It utilizes Pigments from milled herbs and allows the rogue to make Glyphs for themselves and others. See Rogue glyphs for a list of glyphs the Scribe could make for themselves. Herbalism complements this profession. Summary In short, each profession has different benefits. You have to decide what you want. Do you want access to some very awesome armor or weapons that you can craft and not bother questing or PvPing for? Maybe a profession that helps you and your raid with powerful consumables while making you some decent bank on the side? Or perhaps you just want one hell of an edge over the competition in PvP. While some people personally like engineering, be prepared to drop a lot of money on the profession, as it's not a strong money-making profession. None of this makes any one profession the "right answer." Experiment with the different professions to find the one you enjoy, that you'll use, and that will meet your character's money requirements (whether it will be making money or being able to afford the profession). Useful Add-ons This section lists some of the more helpful mods specifically for the Rogue class. ; EnergyWatch v2 : Displays a progress bar that fills, empties, and refills in time with your energy recharge tick. This can be extremely useful for timing that Cheapshot or Ambush so you tick immediately and have extra energy for a Gouge etc. ; RogueFocusClassic : An all in one addon that keeps track of energy ticks, combo points, AND total energy. As much as I loved EnergyWatch, this is a much better addon. ; Poisoner : This mod allows for extremely easy application of poisons. It creates a small minimap icon that can be hovered over to display all the poisons you currently have. Just left click the desired poison to apply to the main hand weapon, or right click to apply to the offhand. ; Buy Poisons : Allows for easy buying of rogue poisons. ; Natur Enemy Cast Bars (NECB) : Notifies the player when someone begins to cast a spell. This is great since it lets you know when to kick, blind or stun the opponent; quite handy if you prefer not to be polymorphed. ; RaidRogue : Provides a handy screen which keeps track of reagents, poisons, etc. Addons can be found at Curse Gaming, WoW UI, and WoW Interface For rogue specific addons, check out Curse-Rogue Addons and WoWUI-Rogue Addons End-Game Expectations Your main priority in raiding is maximizing melee DPS, while staying alive. Put your threat reducing abilities (namely, Vanish and Feint) to good use, use them before overaggroing. As with all melee DPS classes, rogues are expected to come to raids with ample supplies of reagents, potions, food, poisons and bandages. Depending on particular situation, rogues may not get many heals. If that's the case, rogues should use potions or health stones or bandages. Since the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, most raid instances were built to accommodate rogue poisons and the immunity to them has all but been removed. There are exceptions such as Void Reaver, Hydross the Unstable are immune to poisons. Also rogues are wanted to play as interrupters at some bosses such as Reliquary of Souls and Illidari Council. Finally, rogues can be useful as tanks if specced, geared and buffed correctly to increase evasion to 100%, though in most cases rogues would survive against melee damage bosses only. For more information see Rogues as tanks. Patch changes *Pick Lock and Disarm Trap no longer require Thieves' Tools. *Vanish no longer requires the reagent Flash Powder. *Poisons are no longer created from ingredients by rogue. The vendors that sold poison ingredients now sell ready to use poisons. *Mace Specialization no longer gives a chance to stun the target, instead bypasses armor. Wrath of the Lich King Changes Talents & Skills Rogues will get a skill called "Fan of Knives", an AoE ability allowing them to attack all enemies within a short range. It will be some kind of "emergency" ability and you won't be able to spam it.http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=9454.0 You can check out the new outline for rogue talents at http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent Sap Sap will now work on more targets, humanoids, beasts, dragonkins, demons. "Anything with a skull and a brain inside of it".http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=9454.0 Dagger Spec Dagger spec will receive improvements in the expansion to make it much more viable. See also * Lockpicking - Guide to getting that lockpicking skill up. * Rogue Sets - Discussion of set items for rogues. * Rogue Gear Guide - Information about choice of rogue equipment. * Stealth Run - Solo or duo-able dungeons. * Stealth Chests - Soloable chests in instances. * List of rogues - List of important NPC rogues and rogues from lore. External links * Flintlocke's Guide To Azeroth for a glimpse of what the world would be like if there were no Rogues. Category:Rogues Category:Classes Category:WoW classes